The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

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Monday, June 19, 2017

Soft Sharia in Turkey - Burak Bekdil

by Burak Bekdil

The bad news about the Turkish justice system is
that it is increasingly religiously ideological, reminiscent of the
Ottoman justice system where non-Muslims were legally inferior to the
Muslims

The bad news about the
Turkish justice system is that it is increasingly religiously
ideological, reminiscent of the Ottoman justice system where non-Muslims
were legally inferior to the Muslims and were constantly reminded of
their inferiority to the dominant community through restrictions and
markers.

The legislation reads that law enforcement officials cannot
"intentionally marry a person who is known to be impure, or to stay in a
marriage, or continue to live with such a person."

In addition, the decree covers stricter rules against drinking,
gambling, the vague and emphatic "going to places that would ruin your
reputation," as well as "excessive spending".

The good news about Turkish justice is that despite 15 years of
not-so-creeping Islamization, court verdicts do not yet sentence
wrongdoers to public lashing, stoning, amputations or public hangings in
main city squares. The bad news about the Turkish justice system is
that it is increasingly religiously ideological, reminiscent of the
Ottoman justice system where non-Muslims were legally inferior to the
Muslims and were, in principle, expected to be constantly reminded of
their inferiority to the dominant community through restrictions and markers.

In 21st century Turkey, fortunately, there are not [yet]
markers revealing non-Muslim citizens or laws discriminating against
non-Muslims. Nevertheless, with or without markers, there is positive
discrimination in favor of pious Muslims and against the others. Turkish
law enforcement is embarrassingly pro-pious Sunni Muslim.

Turkey, nominally, is not a Sharia state. But it is becoming one on a
de facto basis. In January, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government
issued a decree stipulating that law enforcement officials, including
security officials, police and coast guard officers, could lose their jobs
if they marry a "known adulterer." The legislation reads that law
enforcement officials cannot "intentionally marry a person who is known
to be impure, or to stay in a marriage, or continue to live with such a
person." The offense is punishable by up to 24 months' suspension from
work. In addition, the decree covers stricter rules against drinking,
gambling, the vague and emphatic "going to places that would ruin your
reputation," as well as "excessive spending," all while off duty.

In
January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government issued a
decree stipulating that law enforcement officials could lose their jobs
if they marry "a person who is known to be impure." (Photo by Lintao
Zhang/Pool/Getty Images)

What do those new offenses have in common? Adultery, impurity,
drinking, gambling and excessive spending? They are all sins mentioned
in the holy book of Islam. This is not only problematic from the
viewpoint of modern state and public administration, but also from a
technical point of view. When the offense is defined in such vague and
holy scriptural language, judgment will inevitably become arbitrary. Who
is a "known adulterer," for instance? Who is a person "known to be
impure?" How will the Turkish state define "purity" or "a pure person?"
How would an officer know beforehand that a place he goes for the first
time will "ruin his reputation?" And what percentage of one's salary
will mean "excessive spending?"

Last year a Turkish man stood trial for seriously injuring [with the
intention to kill, according to the indictment] his ex-wife by stabbing
her with a screwdriver. The court sentenced the man to an aggravated
life sentence. The judges then gave the defendant a shocking reduction:
Just 11 years in jail instead of life. Why the generosity? Because the
court found out that the victim had the habit of going out with her
"divorced lady friends and drank alcohol". In other words, the Turkish
court ruled that the woman had half-deserved to be murdered because of
that.

In April, an apparently conservative Turk addressed Selina Dogan, a
Turkish-Armenian opposition MP, with the words: "You are all whores ...
You are the servants of Byzantium." Dogan sued the man for hate-speech
and insult. A Turkish court admitted that the content shared in social
media indeed was insulting but acquitted the defendant. Dogan said: "This [ruling] is a free pass for hate speech".

More recently, Nurettin Yildiz, a columnist for the Islamist Milli Gazete,
declared that in Islam it was permissible for children at the age of
six to get married. Normally one would expect psychiatric examination
for the man or prosecution for pedophilia. But Turkish justice can
sometimes be generously tolerant to freedom of speech -- as long as the
content is Islamist. A prosecutor, citing freedom of expression, dropped
charges against Yildiz. Meanwhile, a secular news site, Odatv,
outraged by Yildiz's statement, placed the man in the news with the
headline: "Religious Fanatics Perverting." This time, the prosecution
was not as generous as in the case of Yildiz. A prosecutor is now
demanding up to 28 months in jail for Baris Terkoglu, editor of Odatv,
for insulting Yildiz. Defending the marriage of six-year-olds is fine,
but calling that a perversion is an offense punishable by jail.

One important difference between a modern state and a religion-based
state is that the former punishes offenses harmful to the public
interest while the latter tends to punish the "sin". Turkey, once a
semi-modern state, is now drifting fast into the Sharia order -- without
the name Sharia.

Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was
just fired from Turkey's leading newspaper after 29 years, for writing
what was taking place in Turkey for Gatestone. He is a Fellow at the
Middle East Forum.Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10541/soft-sharia-in-turkey Follow Middle East and Terrorism on TwitterCopyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.